Prayer:
You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever! (Psalm 30:11-12).
Main Scripture: Hebrews 11:8-10
By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
Associated Scriptures:
The Lord had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you" (Genesis 12:1-3).
So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there. Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him (Genesis 12:4-8).
'I will bring you to the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you for a possession; I am the LORD'" (Exodus 6:8).
For the sons of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, until all the nation, that is, the men of war who came out of Egypt, perished because they did not listen to the voice of the LORD, to whom the LORD had sworn that He would not let them see the land which the LORD had sworn to their fathers to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey (Joshua 5:6).
The God of the people of Israel chose our ancestors; he made the people prosper during their stay in Egypt; with mighty power he led them out of that country; for about forty years he endured their conduct in the wilderness; and he overthrew seven nations in Canaan, giving their land to his people as their inheritance. All this took about 450 years (Acts 13:17-20).
Correlative Quotes:
He had already attained a fine old age, but he had another century of life before him, which he could not then foresee, or expect. If, at his age, he had said, “Lord, I am too old to travel, too old to leave my country, and to begin to live a wandering life,” we could not have wondered; but he did not talk in that fashion. He was commanded to go and we read, “So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him.”[1] – Charles Spurgeon
The journey which he undertook was then a long and dangerous one. The distance from Haran to Palestine by a direct route was not less than four hundred miles, and this journey lay across a vast desert - a part of Arabia Deserta. That journey has always been tedious and perilous; but to see its real difficulty, we must put ourselves into the position in which the world was four thousand years ago. There was no knowledge of the way; no frequented path; no facility for traveling; no turnpike or rail-way; and such a journey then must have appeared incomparably more perilous than almost any which could now be undertaken...he was going among strangers. Who they were he knew not; but the impression could not but have been made on his mind that they were strangers to religion, and that a residence among them would be anything but desirable…he was leaving country, and home, and friends; the place of his birth and the graves of his fathers, with the moral certainty that he would see them no more…he had no right to the country which he went to receive. He could urge no claim on the ground of discovery, or inheritance, or conquest at any former period; but though he went in a peaceful manner, and with no power to take it, and could urge no claim to it whatever, yet he went with the utmost confidence that it would be his.[2] – Albert Barnes
The sense is impaired in A.V. by the omission of the articles, the city, the foundations. Passing over the immediate subject of God's promise to Abraham - his inheritance of the land in which he sojourns - the writer fastens the patriarch's faith upon the heavenly fulfillment of the promise - the perfected community of God, which, he assumes, was contained in the original promise. By the city he means the heavenly Jerusalem, and his statement is that Abraham's faith looked forward to that. The idea of the new or heavenly Jerusalem was familiar to the Jews.[3] Marvin R. Vincent
Study:
As we continue to study the life and faith of Abram and Sarai, remember that they were not perfect. They were ordinary people of their time. However, God was able to use them because of their extraordinary faith. In this same way, God can use us today. We are aliens in a foreign land. Our home is the eternal Jerusalem, the same city that the writer of Hebrews attests to Abram and Sarai.
The three great tests for Abram and Sarai were all related to the three promises that were made to them as God laid out His plan for their lives. The three promises in God’s plan were the presentation of God’s land, Israel, the proliferation of God’s people, and then the final promise of the birth, life, death, and resurrection of the Propitiate; the Messiah. The three tests they would experience, were the move, the inability to have a child, and the promise of a great nation.
In the first test of their faith, God commanded Abram to move to a new land, a land of promise, a land where he could raise a new nation. It was also a land where they would be aliens and strangers. The second test related to God’s promise that Abram and Sarai would be the parents of a great nation. This test deals with their inability to have a child. The final and third test relates to the sacrifice of Isaac. After waiting so long for God to fulfill His promise of a child, God was now asking Abram to sacrifice that child.
Test number 1: When the Time is Right. It is time to move on.
God’s Time: When God is setting the time, the time is right. God’s timing is always perfect. We may not understand, at the moment, why He is making certain decisions, but God does not make any mistakes.
The first test for Abram and Sarai involved many choices but the most difficult was leaving family and friends.
Many years ago, I was offered a promotion. The promotion involved a move from Northeastern Ohio to either a South Atlantic state or to Southern California. My wife and I had strong family ties in Northeastern Ohio, many friends, I taught a Sunday School class and was a deacon at our church, and managed a large and vibrant sales organization that was thriving. It was a difficult decision.
We prayed about a possible relocation and felt that the California move would be a better opportunity for growth. However, California is a long way from Ohio. We would be leaving everything and everyone we loved so dearly. It was not going to be an easy decision.
The week after Christmas we flew to Los Angeles. We arrived from a bitter cold winter season in Ohio to seventy-five-degree weather at eight o’clock at night. It was as if God had made that evening just for us. When I saw the Christmas wreaths hanging from the palm trees, I told my wife, “I think God is calling us to California.” He was.
We felt immediately at home. Two days later we bought a house. There was no question that it was where God wanted us to be. A local real-estate agent showed us a home in an area we absolutely loved and when I met with the new sales organization we meshed immediately. Everything was as if we had preplanned our visit. God did.
Even though we knew it was God’s will that we relocate, it was still difficult. We knew how Abram and Sarai must have felt leaving everything. Within a month the movers came, we packed our bags, said our goodbyes, and left with our two small children, our son who was five and our daughter who was two. It wasn’t easy, but our faith and God’s strength made it possible.
God’s Plan: In addition to God’s timing, His plan is always perfect and righteous. God does everything for a purpose. We are part of a master plan. It is God’s design for eternity. Each one of us has a part to play in that plan. We are all unique with the talents and the gifts that are given to us for the purpose of orchestrating His plan here on earth.
As we begin to understand His purpose for our lives, God gives us the opportunity to express our talents and gifts. Using our gifts serves the Kingdom of God. It also prepares the way for the coming again of Jesus to call His children home (Matthew 24:24). Our purpose is to use our gifts to honor and glorify Him so that others will see Jesus in us and desire to follow Him through that example. Each of our encounters with others is planned and timed by God for a specific purpose. That purpose is to draw others to Him for salvation or for spiritual growth.
God directed Abraham and Sarah to a new land that was not friendly to them. When they experienced a drought, He directed them to Egypt (Genesis 12:10-16). In spite of the lie Abraham told to the Pharaoh’s men and the Pharaoh himself, God blessed Abraham in the end with wealth and livestock. Our actions do not thwart God’s resolve. He will carry out His perfect will with or without a willing heart.
The story of Jonah shows us that God has a purpose and a plan. He carries out His plan through people. Jonah, the prophet, was not a willing participant in God’s plan. After God commanded him to preach repentance to Nineveh, he paid for a passage by ship to Tarshish the farthest point away from his appointment.
God sent rough seas and the men of the ship through Jonah overboard, upon his own request, and he was swallowed by a giant fish for three days and nights. Then he cried out to God and repented, and the Lord caused the fish to vomit him up on the shore.
Jonah then went directly to Nineveh and preached destruction as a result of their sin. The king and all of Nineveh repented and the Lord spared that great city.
All of Jonah’s attempts to avoid the plan and purpose of God could not derail the intention of God. Jonah’s desire was for Nineveh to be punished for their sin, but God’s plan was for their repentance and salvation. Just in the right time, the king and the people of Nineveh turned to God, recognized his authority, and turned from their evil ways to receive His forgiveness. Jonah’s unrighteous actions could not obstruct the righteousness of God.
He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end (Ecclesiastes 3:11).
Summary Statement:
“Rest in the Lord, wait patiently for him to act …. Don’t fret and worry — it only leads to harm”(Psalm 37:7-8 TLB).
When you pursue God’s dream for your life, you’re going to run into delays. God uses those waiting periods to prepare you and test you so that you can face whatever is coming in the next phase of your faith. Most of us tend to worry when we are delayed. We get stressed out. We complain. We become uptight.[4] – Rick Warren
Abram and Sarai’s faith took them to a new land. That same faith moved them to Egypt during a long drought in that land. It was their action as a result of their faith that caused God to bless them at this point in their journey. Even their momentary lapse of unrighteousness could not prevent or even obstruct the will and purpose of God.
Faith and forgiveness are both gifts from God and are a result of obedience. We are not perfect, but we are being forgiven continually by God’s grace through faith when we are walking in His light (1 John 1:7).
Ephesians 1:11-12 (NASU) says this about God’s purpose and our part in His plan, “also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.”
[1] Charles Spurgeon, Spurgeon’s Expository Notes, © 2016 studylight.org, All Rights Reserved, studylight.org/commentaries/spe/genesis-12.html
[2] Barnes, Albert. "Commentary on Hebrews 11:10". "Barnes' Notes on the New Testament". "//www.studylight.org/commentaries/bnb/hebrews-11.html. 1870.
[3] Vincent, Marvin R. DD. "Commentary on Hebrews 11:10". "Vincent's Word Studies in the New Testament". "//www.studylight.org/commentaries/vnt/hebrews-11.html". Charles Schribner's Sons. New York, USA. 1887.
[4] Rick Warren, In a Delay, You can Trust God’s Timing, © 2016 Rick Warren, http://rickwarren.org/devotional/english/in-a-delay-you-can-trust-god-s-timing